Press Releases
07/28/2021
AG Tong Statement on CCDL vs. Lamont Decision
(Hartford, CT)— Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement regarding the decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Connecticut Citizen’s Defense League vs. Lamont.“Our Constitution is clear, the Governor has broad authority to protect Connecticut families during a public health emergency,” Attorney General Tong said. “The Second Circuit Court of Appeals got this decision right—these plaintiffs had no standing and Governor Lamont’s orders since the onset of the pandemic in March have been lawful and justified.”
The case was brought by the Connecticut Citizen’s Defense League, Inc., (“CCDL”) and six individuals, who claimed that Governor Ned Lamont and the Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights with an executive order allowing temporary suspension of fingerprinting services for firearm permits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
None of the individual plaintiffs were seeking fingerprinting services at the DESPP headquarters. Instead, the only plaintiffs seeking to be fingerprinted sought such services from the municipalities where they lived, and they resolved any disputes with those separate parties in this lawsuit before the injunction hearing. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the state’s arguments that the individuals who had gotten fingerprinted from their respective towns had no longer any controversy and their claims were moot.
With regard to the CCDL, the Court of Appeals also agreed with the state that they lacked standing as an organization, and they could not assert the claims of third parties who were not plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The Court of Appeals agreed with the state and sustained the state’s appeal, reversing the District Court’s injunction because the CCDL had no actual injury, but rather is an advocacy group that’s core functions and mission involve litigating Second Amendment claims in legal actions such as this.
Accordingly, the state was able to vindicate the right of the Governor and the Commissioner of Public Safety to properly issue and enforce Executive Orders. The state’s appeal argued successfully that the district court unnecessarily issued an injunction—without jurisdiction to do so—and attempted to tie the hands of the Governor and Commissioner in the midst of an unprecedented national health crisis and state-wide pandemic and state of emergency.
Assistant Attorneys General Stephen Finucane and Matthew Beizer assisted the Attorney General with this matter.
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